Li Xiuying descended into hell disguised as a cultivation experiment.
The stealth approach through Crimson Valley revealed horrors that made her system issue warnings about psychological contamination. What the intelligence reports had described as "spiritual disruption" was actually something far worse: the unstable reincarnation protocol wasn't just failing, it was creating abominations.
Those aren't cultivation failures, Yang Shen's medical expertise observed with growing revulsion. Those are people trapped in permanent death-rebirth cycles.
Through her enhanced senses, Li Xiuying could perceive the victims scattered throughout the valley. Individuals caught in the system's expanding influence were experiencing continuous reincarnation without consciousness transfer. Their bodies died and reformed endlessly while their souls remained trapped in the cycle, aware of every death but unable to escape.
"Sweet heaven," Operative Mirror whispered, their concealment faltering as they witnessed the systematic torture occurring throughout the affected zone. "They're not just experimenting with forbidden techniques. They're creating an army of the undying."
The tactical implications were staggering. Dozens of people trapped in reincarnation loops, their consciousness fragmenting with each forced death and rebirth. Some had been cycling for hours, their sanity completely shattered by repetitive trauma. Others were beginning their first involuntary deaths, still screaming in confusion and terror.
This is what my power looks like when wielded without understanding, Li Xiuying thought with sick certainty. What my trials could have become if the system had been corrupted.
"Operative Rebirth," Commander Liu's voice crackled through their communication array, distorted by the spiritual interference surrounding the valley. "Status report. What are you seeing down there?"
"Systematic torture on a massive scale," Li Xiuying replied grimly. "The unstable system isn't just failing. It's creating permanent reincarnation loops for anyone caught in its influence. This isn't an accident—it's a weapon."
The revelation changed everything. This wasn't desperate experimentation gone wrong. This was deliberate weaponization of forbidden techniques, turning reincarnation into a tool for creating suffering that transcended death itself.
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS UPDATED]
[THREAT CLASSIFICATION: WEAPONIZED REINCARNATION PROTOCOL]
[WARNING: DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE]
[VICTIMS EXPERIENCING INFINITE DEATH LOOP]
[IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION REQUIRED]
Team Seven moved through the valley with grim efficiency, their concealment techniques keeping them invisible to the Blood Moon Sect guards who patrolled the area. But Li Xiuying could see that the guards themselves were terrified, clearly understanding that they were maintaining something monstrous.
"The activation site is ahead," Operative Storm reported, their weather-manipulation senses tracking the epicenter of spiritual disruption. "But there's something else. The energy patterns suggest this system is more sophisticated than initial reports indicated."
Li Xiuying felt her own reincarnation protocol resonating with the corrupted version ahead, like two musical instruments detecting each other's frequency. The sensation was deeply unsettling, as if part of her soul was being called toward something that could either complete or destroy her.
They crested a ridge overlooking the central formation, and Li Xiuying's enhanced perception immediately catalogued details that explained the operation's true scope. This wasn't a hastily assembled experiment. This was a permanent installation designed for long-term operation, with defensive formations and resource allocation that spoke of massive investment.
Someone with serious backing funded this atrocity, Chen Wulong's analytical mind observed. The alchemical components alone would cost more than most sects' annual budgets.
At the center of the complex stood a figure that made Li Xiuying's blood run cold. Not because of his power, though his Nascent Soul cultivation was formidable, but because of his spiritual signature. She had encountered traces of his techniques before, in memories inherited from Master Chen Wulong.
Jiang Wei. The disciple who murdered Chen Wulong for his poison formulas. But he's advanced far beyond what should have been possible.
"Target identified," she whispered to her team. "Jiang Wei, former disciple of the Golden Dawn Sect. He's been using stolen alchemical knowledge to accelerate his cultivation through forbidden methods."
But even as she spoke, Li Xiuying realized something worse. Jiang Wei's spiritual signature carried traces of reincarnation system integration. Not successful like hers, but partial integration that had granted him knowledge without the stabilizing influences of proper trials.
He knows about the system because he attempted it himself, she understood with growing horror. This entire operation is his attempt to complete what he started.
"Operative Darkness," Li Xiuying said urgently, "what's the probability that this system can be safely shut down without killing everyone already trapped in reincarnation loops?"
Darkness's probability manipulation senses focused on the tactical situation with devastating accuracy. "Less than twelve percent with conventional methods. The loops are self-sustaining now. Stopping the system would permanently trap the victims in their current death state."
Meaning I need to interface with the corrupted system directly, Li Xiuying realized. Not to shut it down, but to redirect it into something that can release the trapped souls.
[SYSTEM RECOMMENDATION]
[DIRECT INTEGRATION WITH CORRUPTED PROTOCOL REQUIRED]
[WARNING: SUCCESS PROBABILITY 23%]
[FAILURE WILL RESULT IN HOST SOUL FRAGMENTATION]
[ACCEPTABLE RISK FOR MISSION PARAMETERS]
"I need to get to the central formation," Li Xiuying announced. "Not to destroy it, but to take control of it. It's the only way to save the people already trapped in loops."
"That's suicide," Mirror protested, their concealment techniques flickering with emotional disturbance. "Interfacing with a corrupted reincarnation system could destroy your own integration completely."
"Maybe," Li Xiuying agreed. "But leaving those people to suffer infinite deaths isn't an option."
She began moving toward the formation complex, her enhanced senses tracking guard positions and defensive arrays. But as she approached, Jiang Wei's head snapped up with the alertness of someone detecting a familiar spiritual signature.
"Impossible," his voice carried clearly across the valley, filled with recognition and disbelief. "The reincarnation signature... you're the one from the reports. The girl who mastered what I could only partially achieve."
Li Xiuying abandoned stealth, her spiritual pressure blazing forth with the authority of someone who had successfully integrated with forbidden power. "Jiang Wei. Still seeking shortcuts to strength, I see."
His laughter was edged with madness that spoke of partial system integration gone wrong. "Shortcuts? I've spent years perfecting this technique, gathering the resources needed to complete what those ancient fragments only hinted at. And now the solution walks into my hands voluntarily."
The corrupted system pulsed with renewed energy as Jiang Wei channeled additional power into it, but Li Xiuying could see the flaws in his approach. He was treating reincarnation like a typical cultivation technique, forcing it through brute spiritual pressure rather than understanding its deeper principles.
He's going to trigger complete system collapse within minutes, her enhanced analysis revealed. All those trapped souls will be destroyed along with everything else in the valley.
"You don't understand what you're dealing with," Li Xiuying called out, beginning to gather her own reincarnation energies for direct intervention. "That system isn't a tool. It's a living process that requires harmony, not force."
"Spare me your lectures," Jiang Wei snarled, his partial integration making his spiritual signature unstable and dangerous. "I'll extract your knowledge and complete my transformation. The trapped souls are acceptable losses for true power."
[COMBAT INITIATION DETECTED]
[MISSION PARAMETERS: PROTECT TRAPPED VICTIMS]
[TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: OPPONENT ENHANCED BY CORRUPTED REINCARNATION FRAGMENTS]
[RECOMMENDATION: ENGAGE WITH FULL CAPABILITY]
Li Xiuying felt her integrated personas aligning for the most important battle of her existence. Not just for her own survival, but for the souls of dozens of innocent people trapped in eternal suffering.
Time to show him what properly mastered reincarnation power could accomplish.
And pray that her system's stability could withstand the coming collision with its corrupted reflection.
The battle for the future of forbidden cultivation was about to begin.